Page 54 of The Devil's Embrace

“If he’s involved at all,” she said, “you’re right. Here’s the thing: they’re all weird cases, nothing like what you’re here to solve. Most of these reported domestic cases are minor, but at least once a year, someone takes things too far.”

That didn’t sound all that suspicious to Calix, but he tried to see it from her perspective. To him, people lost their cool and snapped all the time. Look what happened with Heathe.

What had happened with Nero.

“How many murders do you guys typically deal with?” Cal asked, and she lost some of her luster.

“I know, it seems like a long shot, and even if it wasn’t, it’s not like I can actually connect any of those deaths since the killer always confesses. The thing is, many of them sound remarkably similar to Heathe. Don’t you find that part strange at least?”

“What do you mean?” They were nearing the end of the hall now. “Sound like him, how?”

“They all said it was like suddenly they were overcome by this outside force that led them to do it.”

“Like being possessed?” Calix quirked a brow. “Do you believe in ghosts, Amory?”

“Of course not. But what if there really is something—”

“Evening, Detective.” Aodhan turned the corner just as they came to it, propping his shoulder against the wall as he grinned at him. His gaze pulled away after a moment, momentarily moving to Amory before he returned all his attention to Cal. “Officer Paige. What are the two of you talking so seriously about?”

“Dead people,” Amory replied bluntly. She went to step around him and mirrored Troya’s earlier move by winking at Cal once she was behind Aodhan. “I’ll go check the other databases myself. It’s not really a two-person job. Calix skipped lunch today, Doctor Solace, in case you were wondering.”

“Thanks, Officer,” Aodhan’s smile dropped despite his upbeat words, “I was.”

Cal waited until she was far enough away before stepping in closer to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Come with me.” He took his wrist and pulled to the right, entering an empty storage room. He seemed nervous, running his hand through his dark hair as he paced in front of the door.

“Aodhan,” Cal couldn’t help the slight nervousness in his tone, “what’s going on? Talk to me.”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “It’s…No, it can’t be. I had to have misheard.”

“Misheard what?” Calix exhaled and then captured the other man by the arms and led him to a mostly empty table set in the corner. Once he had him seated, he crossed his arms. “It’s okay, just tell me what’s wrong.”

“That officer just now…”

“Amory?”

“Yes. Look, I know how this is going to sound but…I heard the two of you talking before I turned the corner and saw who it was. I’ve worked with Bruce and a few of the others in his department before, but she and I haven’t had much interaction in the past, which is probably why it didn’t register for me until I could hear her but not see her face.”

Cal got a bad feeling. “What are you saying? Are you implying that Amory…No, she can’t be.”

“I’m fairly certain she is though,” he insisted. “Amory’s voice sounds exactly like the one I heard at the party after you left. She was bragging about having a collection of heads.”

“Maybe…,” his mind spun for a way to make sense of this, “maybe you’re right and she is a member. Couldn’t she have been talking about the case then?”

“If that were true, why would they need me to bring you in the first place? She already had an invitation. When I discussed it with Bruce, he was clueless about the event, which means she never brought it up to him herself.”

“Maybe she wanted to try and do things on her own? Get a leg up on me and make me seem incompetent?” This had been before Nero’s return home. Even though she’d been nice to him, she could have still harbored ill feelings toward him. Solving his case would definitely be one way to flip him the proverbial middle finger.

Aodhan leaned back, effectively pulling away from him. “I didn’t realize the two of you had gotten so close these past few weeks.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then why are you so readily making excuses for her?”

Calix rested a hand on Aodhan’s right knee. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I’m saying I don’t want to. I’ll look into it.” Something else occurred to him, and he pursed his lips. “I’ll have to speak to Bruce about this immediately.”

Was it weird? Yes, but there was no reason for Aodhan to lie about something like this. Whether or not Amory really was the woman they were looking for, the doctor believed she was, which meant Cal had to trust him and check. It shouldn’t be too hard, all they had to do was find out where she’d been the night of the party.

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